Special to Savannah Morning News Athens indie rockers of Montreal will headline Savannah Stopover's free, all-ages Concert in the Park on March 8, sponsored by the Savannah Morning News and SavannahNow.com.

Nothing is beyond the scope of Kevin Barnes, frontman of Athens-based indie rockers of Montreal, who’ll perform March 8 as part of the Savannah Stopover Music Festival’s free concert in Forsyth Park, sponsored by the Savannah Morning News.

Expect elaborate costume changes, skits, comedy and — oh, yes, music.

“It’s our first time playing Savannah,” Barnes says. “We’ve been wanting to play in Savannah for a while.

“It has a great art school, which seemed to make sense for us to play it, but the opportunity never really presented itself,” he says. “This is a great opportunity for us to play Savannah in a beautiful environment.”

The band is known for its lightning-quick style changes over the years — and its love of theatricality.

“We get sort of bored doing the same thing for too long,” Barnes explains. “I find new things to inspire me. It’s a matter of having a short attention span or searching for a new spark.”

The band was founded by Barnes in 1996. Yes, the legend is true — he really did name it after a failed romance with a woman “of Montreal.”

The group is part of the Elephant 6 collective, so called because of its link with The Elephant 6 Recording Company. In the 1990s, several now-legendary independent bands, including The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel and of Montreal recorded albums on the label.

Geographic influences

From its beginnings, of Montreal has been unique. Early influences included psychedelic pop and vaudeville.

Today, the band performs a mix of electronica, funk, glam and afrobeat music. Other current members are keyboardist Dottie Alexander, bassist Davey Pierce, drummer Clayton Rychlik, Nicolas Dobbratz on keys/bass/percussion and guitarist Bryan Poole, who also performs as the Late B.P. Helium.

Barnes’ wife, Nina Grøttland, has played bass with the band. The two, who also paint, designed T-shirts, button sets, wall decals, tote bags and a paper lantern for of Montreal’s 2008 release, “Skeletal Lamping.”

“My wife is Norwegian, so we spent time there in Norway,” Barnes says. “I think just being out of my comfort zone and bring in a foreign country was challenging.”

Their daughter, Alabee, was born in Oslo. “Almost everyone there speaks English, so it wasn’t a complete culture shock,” Barnes says.

“Being isolated, I did a lot of writing because there weren’t distractions. It was a good atmosphere for me to immerse myself in.”

Barnes came to music relatively late. “I was born in Ohio, but my parents moved around a bunch,” he says. “I’ve been a Northerner, a Southerner, sort of all over.

“I was probably 8 or 9 when I discovered music, but I didn’t start playing until I was 19. The first instrument I played was a guitar.

“I had an uncle who played guitar, and one uncle in particular taught me a bunch of Rolling Stones songs,” he says. “The guitar was a good instrument I could travel around with and take wherever I was. I liked to learn other people’s songs. It was exciting.”

As the band’s popularity has grown, its music can be heard in films and on television. The song “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)” was used for an ad for Outback Steakhouse; “Every Day Feels Like Sunday” was used in a NASDAQ commercial; “A Sentence of Sorts In Kongsvinger” was used by Comcast; and “Gronlandic Edit” was used for a T-Mobile commercial that also featured band members as actors.

Prolific output

Since 1998, of Montreal has recorded 11 albums — the latest, “Paralytic Stalks,” last year — plus numerous EPs and 7-inch singles.

Barnes, with his wife and brother, have even conducted a comedy tour, “A Pollinaire Rave.”

“It was sort of Dada comedy, sort of surreal sketch comedy,” Barnes says. “It was not something we spent that much time on. It was just kind of a fun thing we put together.”

Barnes’ brother, David, is an artist and has designed most of the band’s albums. “My brother does performance art,” Barnes says. “He and a couple of friends might have four or five performance artists on stage with us.

“We are performing these kind of abstract skits,” he says. “There is some sort of storyline, but it is not linear normally.”

Barnes promises the band will put on a full, eye-popping show in Savannah.

“We’re going to bring a pretty good-sized ensemble with six or seven musicians and three or four costume artists,” Barnes says. “There will be lots of costume changes.”

Openers Royal Canoe from Winnipeg, Canada, will take the stage at 7 p.m., followed by of Montreal at 8. Savannah’s KidSyc will emcee the concert.

Food and beverage will be available from local and regional vendors including Leopold’s Ice Cream, Blowin’ Smoke BBQ, SweetWater Brewing Company (the festival’s official beer sponsor) and Barefoot Wines.

A portion of beer and wine sales from the event will go to Stand Out Youth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support, resources and education to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, ages 14-23, in the Lowcountry.

”We’re thrilled to be a part of this great all-ages event,” said Robert Dunn, Stand Out’s director. “The music of of Montreal celebrates freedom of individuality and creative expression, and we’re excited to witness their energetic showmanship in Savannah for the first time.”

Savannah Stopover is also pleased to offer Bike Valet, courtesy of the Savannah Bicycle Campaign. Festival-goers arriving on bike will be able to valet their bikes during the concert. SBC supports efforts in making Savannah a more bike-friendly city.

There will be preferred viewing areas in front of the bandshell for festival passholders and VIP. To buy a pass, visit savannahstopover.com.

ON THE WEB:

Go to do.savannahnow.com for our complete Savannah Stopover Music Festival coverage, including an interview with Royal Canoe, band highlights and more.

WIN STOPOVER PASSES

Go to savannahnow.com/contests to enter our Savannah Stopover giveaway. You can win a pair of VIP festival passes ($240 value), a three-day festival pass and more.